


to carve a wound

by naevia_nadia



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Asphyxiation, Crait, First Order Culture, Force Choking, His General Hux, Hurt No Comfort, Hux Whomp, In that it's an unhealthy working relationship, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Kylo Ren is Not Nice, M/M, Please do so as I can elaborate more about the warnings there than in tags, Post-TLJ, Rabid Cur, See author's notes for additional warnings, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, Unhealthy Relationships, Violence, dog imagery, references to past abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-17 05:22:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13070016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naevia_nadia/pseuds/naevia_nadia
Summary: On Crait, after his loss to the Resistance and his defeat to Luke Skywalker, Kylo Ren remains on his knees in a room within a forgotten Rebel hangar, staring at the dice that have just vanished from his hand.  Outside, the Imperials cluster, wondering, fearful, of what will come next with their new Supreme Leader.And yet: one Imperial approaches their new master, cautiously, but with purpose, to find an answer.





	to carve a wound

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome all welcome all!!! 'The Last Jedi' is finally out, after two years of waiting!! The Kylux fandom has received new canon to play around with!! What a great treat for this December!!
> 
> Sadly, though, the new canon is leading itself towards Kylux angst in the canon sense, at least at the start.
> 
> And since this fic takes place right after TLJ, right after the curtain closes, the angst here will be heavy.
> 
> I definitely want to give warning to the content in this fic, as it's rather intense (considering my past Kylux fic, which is usually soft and comforting, even if Hux and Kylo are suffering)
> 
> Spoilers to the fic are below, but definitely read if you're concerned about certain aspects of the fic from the tags!
> 
> Ready?
> 
> Here's what to watch out for in this fic, pertaining to the graphic displays of violence:
> 
> \---
> 
> Kylo shoves Hux out of the room, causing him to fall to the ground. Kylo enjoys this.
> 
> Later, Kylo also Force chokes Hux again. This is graphically described, so that Kylo's characterization and mental state can be discussed. He takes pleasure in having Hux subordinate to him. He also enjoys Hux's struggling, etc. Finally, after the choking, Kylo also presses down on Hux's chest with a hand, further restricting his breathing. 
> 
> This entire scene is the climactic action of the fic. Everything else is resolving action with no violence.
> 
> \---
> 
> Please be careful reading this everyone!! I do not condone any kind of relationship like this (even a working one!) nor do I condone either Kylo or Hux's actions (in the entire fic, especially the end!) as something to strive towards! These are two messed up people in a messed up relationship, and this fic seeks to discuss that!!
> 
> Enjoy!! But please stay safe!!
> 
> If you want any additional details, message me on tumblr @lady-starkiller so I can elaborate more!

 

* * *

 

Kylo doesn’t know how long he kneeled in that room, staring at his palm.  Waiting for those damn dice to reappear, the ones he had watched sway and jingle above him as piloted the _Falcon_ in loops and flips and hair-raising turns that made even Han Solo clutch his armrests in fear.  He’d always give a good-natured chuckle after Ben got the _Falcon_ back on course and reach over to ruffle his hair and say, “Well, kid, that sure was one hell of a ride,” and Ben would look back at his face and smile that small fucking smile he always had whenever Han looked at him like that, untinged with fear, living in that moment and seeing his son as who he was and not what he could be.  Not seeing the beginnings of a monster, emerging from its cocoon with its maw wide open and teeth glittering, ready to strike.

Kylo blinks.  He’s shaking.  His hand, the one that held those _Falcon_ dice, clenches tight.  The leather of his gloves creak with the effort.  The room, carved into the red crystal of this forgotten Rebel planet, groans.  Shiny red dust falls from the ceiling to land on Kylo’s head and shoulders. 

Kylo, just then, is full of the urge to bring the entire cave down upon them all.  Like he did to Luke Skywalker, standing above him with his lightsaber drawn, ready to kill him in his sleep.  He pulled the walls down on Skywalker, but he did not succeed then.

This time, Kylo will.

"Supreme Leader.”

Kylo doesn’t notice the voice at first.  His teeth are bared at his clenched fist.  The room shakes around him, groans with the shifting earth.

Then, the events of the day come back to him.

Snoke.  Dead.

Supreme Leader.  Him.

Kylo unclasps his fist.  The room immediately stops its shaking.  The dust floats peacefully down to the cave floor to settle on Kylo’s kneeled body, around his form.

Kylo stares at his open first.  The anger still swirls within him, but is subdued for now.  “Yes, General Hux?”

Hux’s high-pitched, grating, Imperial voice continues with his unwanted drivel.

“Our forces have scouted the caves,” Hux reports.  “There is not much left for use.  Old, outdated Rebel schematics and ancient tech.  Nothing of use for the First Order.”

“Are there provisions?” Kylo asks.

Hux pauses.  “Provisions, Supreme Leader?”

Kylo scowls.  He stands up and turns to glower at Hux, who stands in the doorway.  “Provisions, General Hux!  Food.  Water.  Stuff to survive.”

Hux doesn’t react except for a tight inhale.  The exhale is shaky.  He blinks once, then looks into Kylo’s eyes.  Within his eyes, Kylo sees fear.  He savors it.  “Not much, Supreme Leader.  Emergency rations.  We…we have some First Order rations on the Walkers, too, but—”

Kylo turns away from Hux.  “Good.  Then we’re staying.”

“Staying, sir?” Hux asks.

Kylo closes his eyes and centers himself with a deep inhale.  “Yes, General Hux.  We’re staying.  You saw the Force anomaly just as I did.”

“You mean Skywalker,” Hux says.  He enters the room to stand beside Kylo.  His presence, here, so soon after watching the dice disappear.  After watching Skywalker disappear with a jaunty wink and a “see ya round, kid”, just like Han used to say.  It’s too much. 

It’s too much. 

“An interesting anomaly, for sure,” Hux continues, unaware of the fact that Kylo’s hands have formed themselves into fists again.  Unaware that the ground shifts below him, undetectable to everyone but the most Force sensitive.  “I’m afraid I don’t know much about the Force, but of what I do know, Force projections take much skill and practice—”

“Get out,” Kylo bites.

Hux stops speaking immediately.  He looks at Kylo with a furrowed brow.  “Supreme Leader?”

Kylo whips around to snarl at Hux, at his face.  “Get out.”  He stalks towards Hux, hand rising nearly on its own.  Hux, finally understanding, flinches and backs away, nearly tripping over himself.  “Get out.”  Hux stumbles, nearly falls, but Kylo catches him with a grab of the fabric of his shoulder.  Kylo can feel Hux shaking through the uniform tunic as he stares up at him, unable to look away, frozen like a nerf as it sees a Force wolf approaching, teeth bared.

Kylo drags Hux by his shoulder across the room.  Once he gets to the entry way, he shoves Hux hard.  Apparently too hard, as Hux stumbles and falls to the ground, managing to catch himself on his hands rather than his face.

Somehow, Hux does all this without a sound.  When he turns around and pushes himself up, on his knees, and looks up to see Kylo standing in the doorway, staring down at him with his fists clenched, Hux silently lowers his gaze to the red salt ground.

Only Kylo’s heavy breaths are heard as he tries to keep the Force deep within him, so that he doesn’t bring down the entire cave with his power.  “You aren’t _necessary_ right now,” Kylo spits out.  “I’ll get you when you are.”

Kylo doesn’t wait to hear a response.  Instead, he turns away from Hux and shuts the decrepit Rebel doors closed with the slam of a button.  Somehow, it sounds just like one of the doors on the _Falcon_ did, back when he was Ben.

 

* * *

 

Kylo can explain the Force projection of Skywalker.  Competent Force users, the real Masters, have always been able to access that power.  Kylo can remember Snoke appearing to him on mission, giving him orders when appearing as a voice within his mind simply wasn’t enough. 

But the dice.  Dice aren’t Force sensitive.  The Force permeates and penetrates all life.  Two cubes of metal aren’t alive.  They don’t resonate with the Force like a tree or an animal or another person.  They exist completely outside the Force.  They aren’t part of the Force.

Kylo shakes his head.  Hits the ground with a fist. 

Then why did the damn dice disappear?

Kylo doesn’t realize he’s growling to himself until he hears a knock on the closed door, breaking the silence he had cultivated.

“What?” Kylo barks.

“Dinner, Supreme Leader.”

Kylo blinks.  Then, his stomach rumbles.  He lowers a hand to press against his belly.  Apparently, he had been here for longer than he thought.  Likely hours.

The need for food overtakes Kylo’s anger at being interrupted.  “Come in.”

“I…can’t, Supreme Leader,” Hux says.  “You’ve locked the door behind you.”

Kylo huffs before standing up.  His knees crack with the change in position.  Then, he stumbles over to the door controls and slams the button.  The ancient doors open with a loud groan, revealing General Hux standing there, bowls of food in both of his hands.

Kylo sniffs once.  Whatever it is, it smells divine.  “What is it?”

“Soup.”

“What kind?”

Hux looks down at the bowls with a furrowed expression.  “Nerf broth with noodles and rat broth with noodles.”

Kylo swipes the nerf broth out of Hux’s hand.  Then, he walks back into the room and sits cross-legged on the ground.  There’s already a metal spork in the bowl, and Kylo wastes no time in sipping the soup from that spork as fast as he can.

Kylo doesn’t notice as Hux follows him in.  He doesn’t notice as Hux pushes the button controlling the doors to slide them shut.  Kylo doesn’t even notice as Hux sits cross-legged across from him, still at a distance and very close to the door, and starts to sip at his bowl too.

Kylo only looks up when he hears a loud slurp.  Across the room, he sees Hux frozen, his eyes wide, with the rat broth bowl of soup held against his lips. 

Kylo only snorts at the sight before returning to his own food.

Hux makes no more noise as he eats.  Kylo nearly forgets he was there except when, once Kylo is finished, Hux asks for his bowl.  After Kylo gives it to him, Hux stacks both before leaving the room.

As Kylo watches him leave, he can see a small group of Imperial officers, clustered in a group around an old Rebel ship, watching with bated breath as General Hux returns to them.

Kylo shakes his head at the sight.  Nearly laughs, too.  Then, he gets up and shuts the door, returning to his thoughts. 

 

* * *

 

Kylo had no idea it would get this cold on Crait.  Even through his layers, he’s shivering.  Sitting up and hugging his knees to his chest has made no progress.  Not even wrapping his cape around himself helps with the biting cold.

And he’s made no progress with the cause for the dice vanishing from the palm of his hand.  Kylo can’t think of _anything_ that could have caused that phenomena.  Physical beings, devoid of the Force, don’t just simply disappear.  There has to be a reason.

But he’s too damn cold to think of one!

Kylo growls in frustration.  The exhaled breath is like a puff of smoke. 

The sight makes Kylo’s stomach, already hot with his anger, absolutely boil.

“General!” Kylo shouts.

The constant dull noise outside Kylo’s room immediately quiets.  It stays quiet until Kylo hears a knock on the door.  “I’m here, Supreme Leader.”

Kylo rises to open the door.  Once he does, he sees the small fire the Imperials have set up just outside his door.  He nearly wants to call upon the Force to throw dirt upon it, to make the Imperials shiver just as he does. 

But no.  Then they’d all be cold.  Including him.

Kylo looks down at Hux, who stands with perfect posture just in front of him. His hands are clasped behind his back.  Like Kylo, he has yet to remove his uniform, likely due to the cold, though the greatcoat is nowhere to be seen.  “Do we have extra supplies for a fire?”

“Yes, Supreme Leader.”

“Build me one.”

Hux opens his mouth like he’s about to say something, but one look from Kylo is enough to slam it closed.  He simply nods, silently, before going to fetch the supplies he needs for a fire.

Kylo returns to his cross-legged position, stewing over the Force.  Over the dice.  It’s only when he hears the crackling of burnt wood and smells rich, earthy smoke that he turns back around to see Hux, crouched around a makeshift fire ring, burning sticks and old Rebel uniforms.

When Hux looks up to see Kylo staring at the uniforms, he smirks a bit.  “It’s what they deserve,” he says.  “To burn.”

“I don’t understand why the dice would disappear,” Kylo says, in a complete non sequitur.  “Right out of my hand.”

Hux’s brow furrows again.  “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

Kylo explains how the dice disappeared.  Hux only looks more confused with the explanation.

“Perhaps they were taken by someone?” Hux asks.

Kylo waves a hand at him.  “The Force doesn’t work like that.  That’s impossible.”

Hux doesn’t respond after that.  Just tends to the fire.

Kylo wouldn’t have expected Hux to know anything about the Force.  About the dice.  Typical, for a man less Force sensitive than dirt itself.  Kylo returns to his own thoughts, though each failed reasoning for the dice disappearing only makes Kylo grow more frustrated.  The heat from the fire, so wanted earlier, only seems to fuel Kylo’s anger more.

Minutes pass like this.  Only the crackling of the fire permeates the silence.  Kylo nearly forgets that Hux is there, as he can’t even hear the man’s breathing, until Hux breaks the silence.

“Have you given thought to what the First Order will do next, Supreme Leader?”

Kylo scowls, irritated by the interruption to his thoughts.  And he had been so close to an answer, an explanation for those damn dice.  “Is that a criticism, General Hux?”

The fire pops.  Hux clears his throat.  “Of course not, Supreme Leader.  Just an inquiry.”

Kylo smirks.  Then, he turns to face Hux.  “An inquiry, General?  What are you inquiring?”

Hux stares at Kylo.  The only motion on his face comes from the fire’s light casting shadows in the curve of his mouth, the depths of his eyes.  The fire makes Hux’s hair, already so bright red, burn scarlet.  He does not blink.

“Well, General?” Kylo asks, savoring Hux’s nervousness.  “Give me your thoughts.”

Hux finally blinks.  The breath he exhales shudders through his chest.  Kylo can feel the vibrations through the Force, the fear tinging each beat of Hux’s heart.  This power, the one he has over Hux, something he never had before Snoke’s death, is one he savors. 

The dice are far from his mind, now that Hux is in front of him. 

And, for once, nervous.

Hux clears his throat.  “The First Order is in a position of power, Supreme Leader.  The Resistance has shrunk to a single ship and not a large one by any rate.  A decrepit and rusting old smuggler ship is no match for our might.”

“Don’t talk about the ship like that,” Kylo snarls.

Hux’s head jerks away at Kylo’s snarling, to look down at the red earth.  “Apologies, Supreme Leader,” he says.

Kylo waves his hand at Hux for him to continue.  It's a while before Hux does so.

“Th-the Resistance has shrunk.  That’s a fact.  I also received information from the _Ardenta_ , one of our ships in orbit, that the Resistance was sending out transmissions while they were stuck in this cave.  Transmissions to their allies.”  Hux shifts in his position, though Kylo wonders what he was trying to fix.  Hux’s posture could not improve any more.

A small smile overtakes Hux’s face.  “Their allies did not respond.”

Kylo has seen Hux’s smile before.  In Ben, on the _Falcon_ , as Han ruffled his hair and said “you’re one hell of a pilot, kiddo” and dropped him off at home, so that Leia would take him inside and berate Han for being so reckless with their child, and Han would laugh and shrug his shoulders like he always fucking did.

Hux’s smile curls upwards to reveal an incisor, pointed sharp.  “They have no one, Supreme Leader,” Hux whispers, like this information is to be savored like sex.

In the light of the fire, Hux’s smile appears even more feral, more rabid than how Hux smiled at him as he left Snoke, convinced he had won something over Kylo. Hux couldn’t have been more wrong.  He couldn’t have predicted the power Kylo had over his old master.  How easily it had been to shake his slimy hands out of his mind.  How turning that lightsaber to face Snoke had only been difficult for the emotions Kylo had to suppress.  Anticipation for the thick stench of death to overtake his master, who thought himself immortal.  Excitement at the battle to come, for Kylo knew the Praetorian guards would come for him and for Rey, once Snoke was dead by his hand. 

Oneness.  Knowing that the scavenger, Rey, with Force abilities that were impossibly equal to his own, with ability that would serve him well in conquering the galaxy under their united banner, was soon to join him, once she realized the power they had, together.

How well they fought together.  How they sliced down Snoke’s guards like they were nothing more than insects.  When she threw the saber to him, and their eyes met, knowing that together, their powers were multiplied to a level never seen by the galaxy, not even through Luke Skywalker, not even through Darth Vader himself.

And then.

The _Falcon_ doors.  Sliding shut in his face.

A rejection.

In front of him, Hux continues with his drivel.  Somehow, due to the darkness of the room hiding the darkness in Kylo’s mind, he has not yet noticed Kylo’s anger.  Hasn’t noticed how quickly the room has turned.  Hasn’t noticed how his very presence in this room is fueling the anger deep in Kylo’s stomach, illuminating all that had happened over these two weeks and shoving it in Kylo’s face.

His failures. 

Dice, disappearing, in his hand.  Luke, vanishing, winning over Kylo yet again.

Rey.  Rey, betraying him.  Traitor.  Fucking traitor.

“The hyperspace tracking device could easily be altered to apply to smaller vessels,” Hux says.  He smirks at Kylo again.  “That way, we could track even the smallest ship.  The Resistance doesn’t have a chance.  Our path to success is guaranteed, as long as we—”

Hux’s eyes widen as he feels the familiar pressure against his throat.  The light from the fire, crackling in a mimic of Kylo’s Force ability, shows tears already gathering at the corners. 

One of Hux’s hand rises to clutch at his throat.  The other claws at the earth below them, revealing the bloodlike salt with every twitch of Hux’s hand. 

Already Hux is whimpering. 

Pathetic.

Kylo’s voice shakes as he speaks through his anger.  “Our path, General?”  He clutches his fingers tighter, so that his hand itself shakes.  In front of him, Hux falls to the ground, whimpering and shaking.  Each attempted breath Hux takes results in a hacking cough, like a dog barking as it yanks at its chain tethering it to post.

Kylo leans forward, on his free hand, to stare down at Hux, lying on his belly below him.  “ _Ours_?”

Hux only looks up at Kylo, tears running out of his wide eyes, mouth open as he struggles to take breath.  His chin is smudged with the red salt, evidence of how quickly Hux fell to Kylo’s power.

Hux’s face is turning red.  Nearly purpling with the effort.  Already capillaries have burst in his eyes, tinging the whites bloody red. 

Kylo bares his teeth at Hux.  Breathes heavily through them.  Watches, with rapture, as Hux struggles to breathe, knowing full well that no matter what he does to Hux, the rabid cur will always come crawling back to him, whimpering, on his stomach, desperate for someone to take his leash.

Once Hux’s eyes grow dim, once the light in them begins to dull, finally Kylo releases him.  Immediately, Hux gasps a ragged breath and begins to cough.  He rolls to his back, to gasp up at the ceiling.  His hand yanks at his uniform collar.  Once Hux manages to pull it off, Kylo can see evidence of this choking.  And the one prior to it, too.  New, bright red bruising in the shape of fingers overtaking the dark red that was already there. 

Hux pants at the ceiling.  Each breath shudders through his throat.  It must be painful, to breathe through his injuries.  Must _ache_.

Kylo shifts to sit on his knees by Hux’s side.  Hux doesn’t react, not even to flinch.  He only stares at the ceiling, unblinking.  There are still tears collecting in Hux’s eyes.  This close, Kylo can see the exhaustion to them, too.  The dark, shadowed, deep bags under Hux’s eyes.  The natural redness, now made apparent by the capillaries that burst under the pressure of the Force choke.  The natural pallor to Hux’s face made even paler by the lack of sleep. 

Finally, Hux looks away from the ceiling to look at Kylo.

Any trace of a smirk is gone from his face. 

“Let me make something clear with you, Hux,” Kylo says, softly.  “Now, there is no ‘we’.  Now, there is no ‘our’.  There is me, as Supreme Leader.  And there is you, as the rabid cur below me.”

The repetition of Snoke’s insult, what Hux had to hear as he left their meeting just a couple days ago, when everything was different, has its intended effect.  Hux only cowers more into himself. 

“Do you understand me?”

Hux shakes harder.  His eyes have begun to cloud, like his mind is retreating elsewhere. 

Kylo plants a hand onto Hux’s chest and lets his full weight fall onto it.  He leans even closer, so that Hux’s eyes have to cross to meet his own.  Kylo doesn’t even need to raise his voice.  “I said.  Do you _understand_ me, Hux?”

Hux blinks away tears.  They fall down his face to hit the ground beside him.  He nods, if the uncontrolled shaking of his head can be considered a nod. 

Kylo gives Hux a small smile.  Like the one Hux had given him, as he left Snoke, guaranteed then with his position and his safety.  “Good.”  Then, Kylo lifts his hand from Hux’s chest.  Immediately, Hux takes shallow breaths, whimpers nearly, for he can barely get them through his abused throat.

Kylo stands to look down at Hux, still lying on his back, showing Kylo his vulnerable belly, the delicate flesh of his throat now turned into a mottling of bruises.  “Return to your pack, Hux,” Kylo says.  He snaps his fingers, points at the door.  “Out.”

Hux rolls himself to his side before sitting up.  Then, without a look at Kylo, he walks to the door.  His shoulders are hiked up, his head held low to the ground.

When Hux pushes the button to open the door, his hands are shaking.  His exit is only marked by the door hissing shut.

The crackling of the fire brings Kylo back to the moment.  It’s so warm here now.  Kylo has already forgotten how cold he felt earlier, before the fire was built.  Instead of fueling his anger, the fire only brings thoughts of sleep.

Immediately, the exhaustion of the past couple of days overtakes Kylo.  He lies down by the fire, his face facing towards it, his head pillowed under his arm and dozes.

The last sight he sees before falling asleep is the shape of a body etched into the ground by the blood red salt that was disturbed in its struggling.

 

* * *

 

Kylo wakes to darkness.

Only the embers of the fire remain, casting a dull glow across the room. 

Kylo shakes his head.  His hair is tangled.

He sits up and brings up his hands to comb through the mess.  Each yank at his scalp brings a wince.  Soon, though, his hair is free of tangles, and he can shake it with ease.

Kylo rubs his eyes, trying to dislodge the last traces of sleep from them.  It had been a long time since he has slept, though to react so lethargically is a bad sign.

He can’t afford to lower his guard, especially now.  Even with Hux subdued and subordinate to him, that doesn’t excuse his officers.  They remain loyal to Hux, and Kylo doesn’t trust them not to start a coup in their general’s name, even if Hux doesn’t call one himself. 

Kylo’s heart beats fast.  Across the room, he sees his lightsaber, cast aside sometime ago.  Anyone could have broken in, could have picked up his lightsaber to kill him.  Kylo summons the saber to him with a wave of his hand.  It flies to his palm.

Feeling the heavy weight of his lightsaber in his hand makes Kylo’s heart calm, though anxiety still remains tight in his stomach.

Kylo may have the Force, but he’s only one man.  And there are ways to protect yourself from the Force that Kylo doesn’t trust the First Order not to know.

The First Order has existed as an entity so separate from Kylo for so long that he doesn’t know anything about it beyond its ability to support his own goals.  Kylo knows of its military strength, but not of its culture.  He doesn’t know if the First Order has any knowledge of ysalamiri, of Force suppressing crystals, of the Force sensitive wolves, cats and deer that exist in the galaxy.  If anyone were to possess a ysalamiri, a kyber deer, even the antler from the deer itself…that would put Kylo’s position as Supreme Leader in jeopardy. 

He has to know what the First Order knows.

And for that, Kylo must talk with Hux. 

Kylo is out the door before he can even think, anxiety bringing his feet forward in a light jog.  His predictions for the time of day were correct; all around him, there are officers and stormtroopers asleep in their respective groups.  Stormtroopers have their helmets off and in a corner as they sleep curled around a dying fire. 

But Kylo wouldn’t find Hux sleeping among stormtroopers.

Kylo jogs towards the closest group of officers.  Already, he is breathing hard, though not from this exercise.  They too are curled around a fire, asleep in their uniform undershirts and jodhpurs.  Their boots are off and placed in neat rows by one of the rusting supply containers that litter this ancient base.

The closest one to Kylo, a young woman with her back against the front of another young woman, is the first to wake.  She jerks in surprise to see Kylo Ren standing above her.

“Supreme Leader,” she whispers.  She sinks further into her sleeping partner, who, somehow, has yet to wake to Kylo Ren’s dangerous presence.  “What do you need, sir?”

“Where’s Hux?” Kylo says as he looks around the slumbering group.  Not a hint of red hair can be seen.

“The General…” the young officer clears her throat.  “Exited the cave an hour ago.”  She glances behind her, at the open hangar door.  Kylo didn’t even notice it was open.

Kylo glowers at her. “He left?  But I—”

Kylo has to cut off his statement, for he never ordered the Imperials to stay in the cave.  Hux must have been the one to order his army to stay here, before he opened the hangar doors and left.  And since he was the one to give the order, that meant Hux was the only one able to ignore it.  To leave.

Kylo nods at her.  “Stay here.  No one is to leave.”

“Of course, sir,” the officer says.

But Kylo doesn’t even hear that.  He doesn’t see as she turns to tuck her face into her partner’s chest, shaking.  Instead, Kylo is already out the open hangar door, out to search for General Hux among the battle-torn earth of Crait, wanting to know if the group of officers behind him are already planning to kill him.

Kylo doesn’t get far once he leaves the cave before stumbling across one of the crystal foxes that cover the planet.  The fox jerks away from him with a bark before running away as fast as its little legs can take it.  The crystal fur chimes as the fox runs further and further away, and soon Kylo can’t hear its fur chime at all.

Crait looks much different now that the sun has set, and the battle has passed.  The earth still shows signs of the battle; the Resistance ships, that ancient old Rebellion model Kylo had only ever read about, have left gashes through the white soil to reveal the red salt underneath.  They’re akin to the gashes that litter Kylo’s body after a fight.  Each gash stretches outward, towards the horizon, until they meet a giant impact crater, a bloody stain on this planet’s surface.  Like an open wound, shedding blood in piles next to the cratered earth.

Kylo created that crater, as he fired upon Luke Skywalker, standing right there in front of him for the first time in years.  He hadn’t thought to how Skywalker appeared on Crait or how his footsteps left no mark on the soil or how he’d wielded the lightsaber he and Rey had just broken hours earlier. 

No.  Instead, Kylo had reacted.  Emotionally.  To carve a wound into this planet.

Kylo cannot say why he knows this, but he knows where to find Hux. 

In the midst of the crater.  The wound on this planet.

Now calm, now that he knows where Hux is, Kylo walks towards the crater.  He can barely see but for the light of the stars, for in his haste to find Hux, he didn’t grab any light source.  To engage his lightsaber now would be disastrous.  It might scare Hux to death, were he to hear. 

And Kylo _has_ to know what the First Order knows.  If the First Order can rise up against him and usurp him as easily as Kylo usurped Snoke.  Kylo has to know how to protect himself.

And only Hux has that information.

As Kylo gets closer to the crater, he begins to hear the crystal foxes again.  Their chiming gets louder and louder as Kylo approaches the crater rim.  All around him are piles of red salt, the ejecta from the formation of this crater. 

But when he looks down, Kylo can see a single figure sitting cross-legged at the crater bottom.  Surrounded by bright red walls, scarred with blaster firing.

“Hux!” Kylo yells. 

Hux doesn’t react.

“Son of a bitch,” Kylo mutters to himself.  Then, he climbs into the crater and begins the difficult trip down.  At some points, Kylo even has to slide himself down the walls, on his ass.

Eventually, though, Kylo makes it to the base of the crater to see Hux, cross-legged in the dirt, surrounded by crystal foxes that are either curled up around him or whimpering at him.  Soon, Kylo understands the reason for their whimpering; he sees Hux throws some emergency rations to the crowd around him.  Two of the foxes immediately squabble for the meat, biting each other, before Hux whistles at one of them and throws them a piece of meat all their own. 

Kylo feels supremely uncomfortable right now, standing in a dirt crater and watching Hux feed the native wildlife.  This wasn’t how he expected this conversation to start, and he has no idea what to do. 

“General Hux,” Kylo says, in lieu of anything else.

The foxes immediately tense before they begin to growl.  Hux turns his head.  “Supreme Leader Ren,” Hux says, voice hoarse and gravelly, yet just like it would be on the bridge, a place that feels years in the past.  Any earlier fear from before is gone.  Kylo would have never thought their past conversation to have happened, were it not for the bruises on Hux’s throat that he can see in the dim starlight that reaches this crater.

All thoughts Kylo had before descending the crater are gone.  Any fear of the First Order rising against him: gone.  Somehow, the crater walls have blocked out everything from the outside world.  Here, there is only Kylo, Hux and the crystal foxes that braved the crater descent to scavenge and beg for food.

“What are you doing here?” Kylo asks.

Hux shifts to face him.  At this angle, even in the low light, Kylo can better see the bruises.  Evidence of his loss of control, of letting his emotions govern.  Kylo looks away and into Hux’s eyes instead.  They’re bright with delirious exhaustion, even in this darkness.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been planetside,” Hux says.  “I wanted to see a sunrise.”

“It’s the middle of the night.”

“The sun is soon to rise,” Hux says.  He pets one of the foxes closest to him.  “The foxes are going to sleep.  And foxes are active at night.  So,” Hux smiles.  “The sun is rising.”

All around him, crystal foxes are curling up. Their snouts are pressed into their tails.  Kylo wonders how that’s comfortable, but it must be, if your fur’s made of crystal.

Hux’s logic, though strange, is sound.  Kylo nods.  Then, out of nothing else to do, he sits down, cross-legged across from Hux. 

The fox next to Hux lowers its ears.  Its body sinks to the ground in a cower, belly pressed against the dirt.  Its eyes do not leave Kylo’s face. 

Hux sniffs a laugh at the sight.  Then, he reaches into his uniform tunic and tosses a package at Kylo.

Kylo catches the metallic package one-handed.  When he turns his hand to read the label, he sees that it’s one of the old Rebellion emergency rations packages.  He snorts at the sight.

“Did you really think I’d feed animals First Order rations?” Hux asks. 

Kylo barks a laugh.  Then, he tears open the package.  The sound makes the nearby foxes perk up their ears and raise their heads out of their tails.  Soon, they surround Kylo, whimpering and begging for food.

Kylo obliges them.  He tears the ration bar apart and tosses it to the foxes, watching as they shake their heads to tear the bar up further.  Some adventurous foxes even climb into his lap to rest their paws on his chest and lick at his face.  Kylo sputters at the feeling of a coarse fox tongue across his face, leaving saliva behind.

Hux smirks at the sight.

Kylo scowls at him from behind the foxes.  Immediately, Hux’s face falls into neutrality. 

The foxes once in Kylo’s lap, so eager for his attention and his food, now cower back down to the ground, their ears pinned back.

Kylo looks away from Hux, at the red salt churned up below him.  He clears his throat before looking back.  All playful irritation or anger, the expression he would have had with Hux in the distant past as they bantered with each other on the _Finalizer_ bridge, is gone.

Kylo looks at Hux like he once looked at a starving dog on a spaceport in the middle of nowhere.  No aggression, no anger.  Nothing to make the dog with its ribs sticking out run away.

“How long have you been out here?”  Kylo asks, gently, softly, in a way that’s unfamiliar to him.

Hux blinks before looking down at the fox in his lap.  “Since after…after my last meeting with you.”

“You didn’t sleep?”

“I can’t,” Hux says.  Then, he blinks and back-peddles.  “I mean, Supreme Leader, I haven’t been able to sleep because I have trouble sleeping if I’m not aboard the _Finalizer_ in my personal quarters there.  And even then, I have clinical insomnia that has to be treated, and I haven’t had access to my medication in a couple of days since I don’t have them aboard the _Supremacy_ or in my emergency rations and—”

“Stop.”

Immediately, Hux stops.  And waits there, silently, looking at Kylo.  The fox in Hux’s lap whimpers, for Hux has curled his hand into its fur and begun to pull at the skin.

Kylo sighs.  “I…I can understand.  Not being able to sleep.  The Force keeps me up sometimes.”

Hux furrows his eyebrows.  “The Force does that?”

“Yes,” Kylo says.  Then, he waves his hand at Hux.  “It’s…the Force.  It exists in all living things.  I can’t escape it just as you can’t.  I’m just more…sensitive to it than you are.”

“Like anxiety.”

Kylo blinks.  “What?”

Hux nods.  “Well, anxiety is just an oversensitivity to normal situations.  An excessive uneasiness as one goes about their daily life.  Force sensitivity is just…increased sensitivity to the Force that exists everywhere.”  Hux rubs at the fox’s ear now.  “Daily life is everywhere…so is the Force.”

Kylo blinks.  “Hux, I think you need to sleep.”

Hux shrugs.  “Probably.  But I can’t sleep now.  The sun is rising.”

“There will be plenty of sunrises.”

“Not here,” Hux says.  “When will we ever return to Crait?”

Kylo can’t think of any argument for that.  The Force dice disappearing out of his hand is just…unexplainable.  Sometimes the Force and its mysteries can’t ever be explained.  “Well, you can’t watch a sunrise from a crater.”

Hux tilts his head to the side.  The movement is akin to one of the crystal foxes.  Curious.  “Why not?”  He looks around himself, at the walls of the crater.  “I’m outside, aren’t I?”

Kylo sighs.  “Well, yes, you are, but…” He gestures at the walls of the crater.  “It takes more time for the sun to ‘rise’ here than to ‘rise’ on the planet.  The light has to clear the walls of the crater.  That’s the new horizon.  To see the real sunrise, you need to get out of this hole.”

Hux blinks at him before shaking his head.  Again, like one of the crystal foxes.  “Fuck, I’m more tired than I thought.  I don’t know what the fuck you just said.”

Kylo nearly snorts at the profanity.  Hux never swears.

“Come out of the crater, Hux,” Kylo says.  He stands and offers Hux a hand.  “Let’s see the sunrise.”

Hux looks at Kylo’s hand with distrust before reaching upward.  He tentatively touches Kylo’s fingertips before sliding his palm over Kylo’s own.  Then, Hux tightens his grip on Kylo’s hand and begins to stand.  Kylo helps pull him up. 

Once standing, Hux doesn’t look at him.  Instead, he starts his ascent of the crater.  His hands claw into the red salt, establishing a handhold.  His feet do the same. 

Kylo follows next to him, less successfully, as his weight proves a hindrance when trying to climb the loose salt crater walls.  Still, he makes it.

The foxes easily scale the walls next to Kylo and Hux, yipping and barking.  But only a couple follow them.  The rest, like Hux said, are asleep with the coming of morning.

Hux and Kylo make it up the crater right as the first light from the sun peaks out from the deep horizon.  Hux gasps at the sight and walks towards it, his eyes wide.  Kylo follows to stand next to him, also staring towards the rising sun.

Soon, the top of the sun emerges from beneath the horizon, illuminating the white planet surface and making the red salt underlayer glitter like kyber crystal.  Kylo soon has to squint his eyes at the sight, for it’s far too bright.

Hux has no such problem.  His eyes remain wide, his mouth curls upward to reveal a single, sharp incisor, deadly as a knife, barely restrained by the flesh of his lips. 

“The First Order rises today,” Kylo says.  “With the rising of this sun.”

“The First Order rises,” Hux echoes, hoarse, transfixed by the rising sun, cresting the horizon. 

All around them, the foxes bark and yip at their feet.  Their crystal fur glitters in the light of the rising sun and chimes with their excited leaps and bounds. 

And out, over the horizon, across a place unreachable, a bright sun rises.

**Author's Note:**

> oh wow so that was intense, right?
> 
> but there's some signs of co-commandership, right? kylo really does need hux for some aspects
> 
> even if kylo and hux are just squabbling foxes in the salt, fighting over that one piece of meat
> 
> but hux...damn pal I just want you to wake up and get away from it all...snoke and kylo have beaten you down long enough! get outta there! take your lieutenants and goooooooo
> 
> alas hux's characterization means he'll stick with powerful, authoritative figures, even if it hurts him
> 
> wow I'm sad :(
> 
> anyway! if you want more Kylux or Hux whomp or (eventually) soft Kylux: follow me here @lady-starkiller on tumblr OR @LadySt4rkiller on twitter :D
> 
> I'll see you soon with my next fic! I think it's gonna be an explicit one this time ;D


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